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NP Career and Money: My Goals

I’m finishing out 2009 with a series of six posts about career and money from the point of view of a low-level nonprofit worker. For some reason I hear little about it in nonprofit land. The bottom line: if you don’t read The Simple Dollar, start now.

My Goals

It’s a simple question, but not everyone can answer it: What is it that you want?

I want to have a healthy relationship with my job, one where we both get something out of it.

I want to make choices, not have them made for me.

I want to have enough money to be flexible and generous.

I want to have time for the people I love, and also time for people I’m lukewarm about.

They’re pretty general, but there’s something extremely helpful about having 70 words sum up who I am and who I’d like to be. It helps me focus on what’s important and gives me confidence that I am indeed on the right path.

I’m not looking to amass money as quickly as possible so I can retire as early as possible. I’m not looking to pile on the stress in order to stay on my toes. I’m not grabbing for as much power as I can get so I can finally put things right in my own eyes.

My current job is actually completely aligned with what I’m looking for. I love being a coordinator. I have a modest degree of autonomy, I get to work directly with volunteers and students, and I have the free time and the emotional energy to spend with people who are important to me.

At risk of being shocking, I also have enough money. More on that soon.